NATURE OF THE COUNTRY, ^^^ 



him he lied, and even accuse him of being a Texan spy — tlireatening to try 

 and execute him as such ! 



Were this ever tlie reward 0/ treason, how few would he traixobsI 



CHAPTER XXX. 



March down the Cimarone. — ^Junction of the two divisions. — Country between J» 

 de las Aniraas and the Cimarone. — Perilous deKcenl. — C^anon of the (Cimarone. — 

 SoU and prevailing rock. — A. fort. — Grandeur and sublimity of Bcenery. — Beauty of 

 rocks. — Cimarone of the plain. — Fruits and game. — V/ide-s{)read desolation. — A 

 dreary country. — Summer on the Desert. — Remarks. — Encounter with Indiana. — 

 Nature's nobleman. — Wild horses and diflerenl modes of caicliing tliem. — Failure of 

 expected reinforctments. — March into th« enemy's country. — Ancient engravingf 

 open a rock. — Boy in the wolf's den. — A man lost.— Forced march. — Torment of 

 thirst. — Remark?. — The lost found. — Expulsion for cowardice, — its effect. 



Soon after the incident related at the close of the preceding- chapter, an 

 express arrived from the Col. comuuuidant, with dispatcher oidciing our 

 division to join him at a small creek near the Pilot Buttes, or " Rabbit 

 Ears," two noted landmarks situated some forty miles above the Santa Fe 

 trail, and nearly equidistant between the Arkansas and Cimanmo. 



We accordingly took up our line of march and proceeded nearly due 

 Boutli for two viays and a half, to the Cimarone ; thence, d(jwn the valley of 

 the latter, five days' travel to the Santa Fe trail, and thence, west-north- 

 west, one day and a half to the place of rendezvous, which we found with- 

 out difficulty" aftf^r a journey of one hundred and seventy miles. 



Between the de las Animas and Cmiarone, we crossed a long reach of 

 arid prairie, slightly undulating and generally barren, with the exception 

 of small fertile spots among the hills, here and there, clothed with rank 

 grasses. 



In some parts, the cacti so completely covered the ground that it was ' 

 impossible to step, for miles in succession, without trending upon their 

 sharp thorns ; in others, the thick clusters of absinthe monopolized the vi- 

 cinity of creeks, nearly to the exclusion of all dissimilar vegetation; and 

 yet in otliers, though of more brief space, naked sterility refused foot t 

 aught save gravel and stiff clay, or saline efiiorescences. 



The water of most of the streams was so highly impregnated with min^- 

 ral salts, it was often unfit to drink. The creeks afforded very little timber, 

 and frequently none at all. 



The section immediafx)ly at the base of the high table lands to the right, 

 exposed some beautiful spreads of fertile prairie, well watered and suitably 

 timbered. The soil, as a whole, presented all tlie prominent characler- 

 'stics of hke portions of country previously described. 



The prevaihng rock was limestone and sandstone, with various conglo* 

 merates, and extensive beds of gypsum. I noticed some very large epec^ 



